NYSBA/LYC Brown v. Board of Education

M.S. Lesson Activity no. 1

Before Brown v. Board of Education: "Jim Crow" and the Plessy v. Ferguson Decision

Application

Students - Grades 7 and 8

Lesson Time

One class period

Objectives

At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

  1. Define "Jim Crow" and explain how "Jim Crow" laws were used to segregate African-Americans from mainstream society, discriminate against them, and deny them the equal rights they were granted following the Civil War
  2. Discuss the background to the United States Supreme Court decision, Plessy v. Ferguson, and explain how this decision supported the "Jim Crow" system and the concept of "separate but equal"

New York State Social Studies Learning Standards

Students will investigate key turning points in New York State and United States history and explain why these events or developments are significant. Students will be able to describe historic events through the eyes and experiences of those who were there.

Materials

Handouts

Websites

Activities

  1. Provide students with copies of the Handout A, "Jim Crow," and ask them to prepare responses to the following questions:
    • Why were "Jim Crow" laws and the "Jim Crow" system enacted in the South after the Civil War? What was meant by "Jim Crow"?
    • Why was segregation practiced in the United States?
    • What was the result of the "Jim Crow" system?
  2. Visit the website on the "Jim Crow" system and its effects on American society (www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/index.html). Since this site includes sensitive materials, you will need to select those readings and visuals that are most appropriate for your students. Have students write essays that discuss how "Jim Crow" laws and the "Jim Crow" system discriminated against African Americans and attempted to relegate them to second-class citizenship in the United States. Ask students to explain how "Jim Crow" laws were designed to deny African Americans the equal civil and political rights they were guaranteed by the United States Constitution.
  3. Divide the class into groups of five students and distribute the Handout B, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Ask student groups to read the handout materials and prepare responses to the following questions:
    • What was the background to the United States Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson?
    • What argument did Mr. Homer Plessy make in challenging Louisiana Statute, No. 111?
    • What does the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution state concerning equal protection of the laws for all citizens?
    • What did the United States Supreme Court decide in the Plessy v. Ferguson case?
    • What effects did this decision have on "Jim Crow" laws and segregation in the United States?

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